Shadow's Edge (19 page)

“Hungry?” Kiera asked lazily as we closed the door behind us.

“No, I'm good,” I said quickly.

“Smart girl, she is,” Kiera said to Slade. “Too bad I can't feast more on her.”

I shivered. “I think I should go back to my realm now.”

Kiera didn't look convinced. She studied a red cap peeking out of her skirt, reached down, and casually dug into his face with a pointed black nail until she'd poked its eyeball out. The eyeball went rolling toward the floor. As the goblin howled, Kiera brought her finger to her mouth and licked it with a black tongue.

“Um, I need to go back and find the last box,” I said again, as my stomach turned.

“Shaman.” Kiera gathered her skirt and took a step toward me. “Tell me. How did the Fomoriian demons come back when we defeated them so long ago?” I flinched as she pointed her fingernail at me and traced the outline of my collarbone through my shirt. As my pulse beat incessantly, I could feel the goblins under her skirt bumping against my legs, pinching at my jeans.

I knew I could out Melissa and the construction project and all who were involved. And it would have served them right. But I remained focused on the bigger picture: getting home. Besides, it would only anger Kiera more; only fuel the Créatúir mistrust of humans more. So, even though Melissa didn't deserve it, I protected her.

“It doesn't matter. Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it,” I said quickly. “But I can't help you here. I must return to my world.”

Slade looked at Kiera, waiting for her approval. She opened her mouth slightly so that I could see her fangs pressed against her bloody lips. She ran her black tongue up and down her fangs, as though contemplating my mortality.

“Let her return,” she finally said to Slade. She walked over to him, skin glowing, and placed her hands on his shoulder. “But come back soon, Shifter,” she whispered to him.

“Yes, my Queen.” Slade walked over to me. He held his hand out and I placed mine into it.

“Time to go,” he whispered.

I closed my eyes and said the chant.

Within seconds, I was knocked off my feet and slammed into the ground. When I opened my eyes, I saw Slade standing above me. And behind him, the glorious sight of my house.

Tw
e
nt
y
-Five

How long have we been gone?” I asked Slade as I stood
up and brushed off my jeans. The night was dark,
the sta
rs in the sky bright and shining. The soft glow of the kitchen light emanated across the lawn, illuminating frostbitten blades of grass
. Inside my house, I saw my dad walking across the kitchen floor.

“What's happened?” I shrieked as I looked around me. On the grass, a dusting of snowfall, light and fluffy, lay like a blanket, threadbare where blades of grass jutted out like miniature spikes. I turned to Slade. “It's winter!” I reached forward and clutched his arm, a chill running through my hands. “How long have we been gone?”

Slade's cold, dark eyes shone in the moonlight as he softly looked down at me. “Two months,” he said quietly.

“Oh no!” My face crumpled as I lowered my head into my hands. “Alex, my family, my school, everything—” My voice broke off as I began to sob.

“Strange,” Slade muttered. I felt his gaze upon me. “Shaman, it was humor. Two days. We've been gone
two days.”

“What?” I said as I lifted my tear-streaked face to him.

“Two days,” he said again and smiled, revealing incisors as pointy as vampire fangs.

“The snow—why—” I sputtered.

“Record early snowfall,” Slade said.

“Oh thank god,” I said, slumping my shoulders forward and exhaling.

Then, the fury returned.

I ran full-speed toward Slade and threw my body weight at him. I shoved him as hard as I could, my arms jarring against his solid frame. He stumbled back across the lawn as I collapsed to the ground, panting.

I knew he could've killed me then, but I didn't care.

In fact, I might have welcomed it.

“Shaman, you're lucky I can keep my anger in check, unlike many of my shifter kin,” Slade said, as he picked himself up off the ground.

“Your anger?
Your
anger? You took me there! Brought me to Inis Mor! Said I'd be safe! You let me sacrifice
my life
,
literally, when you knew there was nothing there the entire time! How
dare
you!” I was still on all fours, my words spitting into the grass as my fingers curled downward, scraping snow and mud into my nailbeds.

Slade walked toward me, the jagged tips of his black hair bouncing across his white cheekbones. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to a standing position. “I know. I am sorry for the tithe. I didn't know Kiera would ask for one. But the Four Treasures. The box. Tell me where it is.”

I shrugged, breaking his embrace. I surveyed him coolly, my eyes narrowing. “I have no idea.”

“Is this a joke? Tell me where the box is!” Slade reached out, but I stepped aside.

I raised my eyebrows “I have no idea. I lied.”

“You lied? To my queen?” Slade shook his head and briefly shifted into wolf form before standing upright again. “Cheat. You have cheated us all. Cheated yourself and cheated our world.”

“Cheat? Really? Because I just got cheated out of a year of my life. Che—” I stopped suddenly as my brain buzzed.

Cheated. Cheating. Brooke's stepdad cheated on her mom. The weird box she saw Melissa carrying.

“I might have an idea.” I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I flipped it open and turned it on. The screen flashed, at first just a scrambled digitized picture. “Come on, come on,” I muttered. I prayed my little jaunt to the Other Realm hadn't disrupted some random megabyte in my phone. I doubted Motorola's insurance policy covered Dimension Shifting While on Other Realm Vacay.

“Yes!” I said as the welcome screen appeared. I went into my address book and selected Brooke's cell phone number.

“What are you doing?” Slade asked.

“Relax,” I hissed at him.

“Oh my god! WHERE have you been?” Brooke screeched into the phone as she answered it.

Oh. Right. I'd disappeared for a few days.

“Um. Sick again. Darn pneumonia,” I said. I should've just gone all the way and snapped my fingers like
gosh darn it—those pesky lil' germs
.

“Whoa. I've been so worried, since you were only at school for like a second this week. Not to mention Alex's been out of his mind, worried about it. It's been really cute, actually,” Brooke said.

Oh. Right. Alex.

“You're not going to miss Homecoming, are you?”
she asked.

Oh. Right. Homecoming.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world. But Brooke, listen. Remember that weird box you said you saw Melissa carrying into your stepdad's office? I need you to describe exactly how it looked. And I mean
exactly
, Brooke,” I said quickly.

“Why? Do you have some kind of lead? Did you see them together?” Brooke asked, her voice rising.

“No. Just a hunch. Seriously Brooke, what did it look like? It's really important.” Slade took a step toward me. I backed away a little and hissed, “Stop.”

“Stop what?” Brooke asked.

“Nothing. Please. Just tell me.” My voice was nearly becoming whiny.

“It was a box. I think it was made out of wood,”
she said.

Did I really just figure this out?

“Or maybe it just looked like wood. Anyway, it kind of looked like a messenger bag or something. Maybe a purse. Or even a box that you get a dozen donuts in,” Brooke mused, as though she was just mentioning random objects.

“What are you talking about? Are you sure it didn't have any swirly swoopy designs on it? Or a black orchid flower latch on the front?” I said, my voice growing raspy.

“No, sorry. Nothing like that. I think it might've even been a FedEx box, now that I think about it. You know, there is a mailing station in my stepdad's building.” I could hear a scratching sound behind her words, the sound of a nail file.

“Thanks,” I whispered as I snapped my cell phone shut.

One more dead end.

The last dead end.

I allowed myself to fall back onto the snowy ground, blocking out Slade's questions and the darkness that his figure cast across me. I thought of my sisters, laughing and fighting inside. Rhea complaining about her wardrobe. Gia weaving her hair into a braid. Morgana tucking her long legs underneath her as she scratched Doppler.

I have failed them all.

Failed everyone. Everything.

Everything is lost.

The nothingness will overtake the Other Realm and creep into ours.

It will destroy all of us.

And I am to blame.

My cell phone, still in my hand, cut into my thoughts as it buzzed. I don't know why I decided to answer it.

“Hey Brooke,” I said flatly, bringing my arm up to cover my eyes. The snow was beginning to seep into my collar, but I didn't feel the chill.

“Listen, you said something about a flower latch, right?” she asked.

I whipped into a sitting position. “Yeah?”

“I've seen a box like that before. I only remember because it was really strange looking and I couldn't stop staring at it,” she said.

My heart began to pound. “This is really important, Brooke. Where did you see it?”

“Well, when I saw it, the box was in Gregg's office. Why are you so interested in the box?” I could hear her tapping on her computer in the background.

I cocked the phone away from my mouth and looked at Slade, nodding my head. I brought the phone back to my lips, still making eye contact with him. “Listen, Brooke. Where is Gregg's office building? It's really important we get ahold of that box. Do you have keys to the office?”

“I think the keys are in the spare bedroom, but why? What do you think is in the box?” Brooke asked.

I looked at Slade, eyes wide. His dark eyes narrowed. “Um. I think there's evidence of the affair in it,” I said. “We have to get it.”

“Really? Great! But I doubt the box is in that building anymore. I overheard him telling my mom that they moved most of their stuff into a big office in one of the clubs they own in the city. It's called Embrace.”

I exhaled loudly and waved my arms around in front of Slade.

Of course. Of course it wouldn't be easy. As if anything ever is for me.

I can save them all.

I sighed. “Brooke, get dressed. We're sneaking into a club tonight. Meet me outside Embrace in a half hour, with whatever keys you can find.”

Tw
e
nt
y
-Six

So, I'm here. But how do we get in?” Brooke asked as I
walked up to Embrace.

The blue-white neon lights of the sign outside the club cast a soft glow over hordes of people waiting behind a velvet rope, and a scary-looking bouncer guarded the door with a clipboard.

“Well, I doubt we can sneak in, since … ” I looked down at the jeans and long-sleeved white shirt I was wearing. Although still dressed in my clothes from school on Monday, I hadn't dared go into my house before heading to the club, lest I become embroiled in a conversation with my family about How I Need to Find This Box, Like, Real Bad instead of actually looking for it.

“Why is your sister's boyfriend here?” Brooke pointed to Slade.

He'd insisted on coming with me to Embrace, claiming he was too involved already and wanted to help. I'd acquiesced, thinking he could be a lookout if nothing else.

“He wants to help,” I said, and shrugged. Slade gave Brooke a strange wave in an attempt to appear friendly. And also human.

“I think sneaking in is definitely out of the question.” Brooke pointed to the massive line filled with protesting people holding up money, bribery their last shot
at entrance.

“What about there?” Slade gestured toward a side entrance where a white van was parked. A group of tattooed men were unloading instruments from the van and carrying them inside.

I turned to Brooke. “Looks like we're going to be
roadies.”

“What? Do you think that will actually work?” She asked, her mouth open a little as she watched the men scurry back and forth.

“Has to,” I said, starting to walk toward the van.

Slade and Brooke followed me, like little ducklings following their mom.

I approached two tall, beastly men who were carrying amps inside, smiled at them, and followed them. Without question. They didn't even look up as we filed inside.

Victory.

Once we were inside, the pulsing walls, vibrating from the awful house music that was playing in the bar, enveloped us, as did the darkness. My eyes still adjusting to the dark,
I stopped.

“I bet the office is down this way.” I pointed down a long hallway with a sign for the bathrooms. “C'mon Brooke,” I said, grabbing her arm. “Slade, stay here. Make some friends.” I smiled at him. His features were unrecognizable in the dark, but I'm sure he could see us, thanks to his fantastical Dark Créatúir Night Vision Skills.

Brooke and I walked down the hallway, past a girl on her cell phone crying because her boyfriend just spilled a drink on her, past a couple making out (and possibly more; I couldn't exactly tell), to a door at the end of the corridor.

Brooke reached into her purse and pulled out a key ring. She tried a few before one easily inserted into the metal lock.

“Here goes,” she said as she turned the doorknob.

I flipped on the light as I closed the door behind us. The office was deserted, piled high with moving boxes, office furniture, and computer wires.

“See it anywhere?” I said, peeking around the boxes and file folders.

Brooke crouched behind a desk. “There's a bunch of stuff over here,” she called out, her voice muffled.

I looked around, lifting up keyboards and pushing aside scattered lampshades.

Until I saw a glint underneath a desk. I bent down, the glint growing brighter the closer I got to it. It was a box with scrolls on it.

And an orchid flower latch.

I picked it up and put it on the desk. “I think I … ”

The box began to open, its contents starting to float upward.

Suddenly, the office door swung open. I quickly grabbed what was floating up and shoved it into my pocket, tossing the first thing I saw on the desk into the box instead.

“What are you doing?” said a voice from the doorway.

Melissa.

“Uh … ” I froze.

“Leah?” Melissa said.

I heard a tiny rustle in the corner and realized that Brooke was hidden from view.

I straightened up and cleared my throat. “I came here to protect the box. We can't have any information about the Treasures getting out now, can we? What are
you
doing here?”

Melissa's eyes narrowed. “How did you know it was here?”

“I—I—just figured it would be,” I stammered.

“Oh, good thinking.” She leaned forward and grabbed the box off of the desk and tucked it under her arm. “Still on board with the plan?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yep. One hundred percent, I'm with you.”

“Good. I'm glad we're working together on this. Soon we'll both be free.” She cackled, the reptilian glow returning to her eyes. She walked out of the office, the box now under her right arm. “See you on Samhain, Leah.”

The door shut behind her and Brooke popped up, her face contorted. “What was that? Are you helping her with something? Is she still your friend?”

“No, no!” I shook my head violently.

“What's going on, then?” Brooke asked.

“Leah! Melissa is here!” Slade walked into the office. He pushed his hair off his forehead and shut the door behind him.

“Yeah, just saw her. Thanks. Good lookout.” I shot him a withering glance.

“What's her problem?” Slade said, pointing to Brooke, whose face was nearly turning purple.

“She's confused,” I said. I looked at Slade, my eyes pleading. He shook his head.

Brooke stood up and wiped her face with her hand. “I'm going home. I'm just going to ask Gregg what the hell is going on.” She started toward the door.

“No! Brooke! You can't!” I said.

Slade moved in front of the door and blocked her exit.

Brooke turned back to me. “I can. This is ridiculous.”

I looked at Slade again, this time raising my eyebrows, silently communicating what we both knew: if Brooke talked to her stepdad, it would all be over.

Slade slowly looked at Brooke, his eyes penetrating through her. He looked back at me and deliberately closed his eyes, giving his permission.

“Brooke, sit down. You're going to need to”—I stopped and exhaled—“not be standing to hear some of this,” I concluded.

Despite her new mistrust and emotional state, Brooke did what I asked and perched on a desk chair.

I exhaled again and put my hands in my jeans pocket. I told her everything.

Everything—well, at least the CliffsNotes version.

“And him?” I gestured my elbow toward Slade. “He's a Dark Créatúir. A shapeshifter, if you want to get specific.”

Brooke shook her head, not absorbing anything I'd just said. She looked like she couldn't decide whether to ask if the Tooth Fairy would leave her some money when she got her wisdom teeth pulled or start proceedings for my unwilling commitment at the nuthouse.

I shook my head, defeated. Then I looked at Slade, eyes soft.

Slade turned to Brooke and stepped in front of her. He closed his eyes and began to glow a deep purple. Wisps of smoke curled from his body as he shed his human form. Layer upon layer of dark shadows fell away from his form, contorting and distorting his features.

And when the smoke subsided, a wolf with the exact same eye color as Slade crouched in front of Brooke.

She stifled a scream and cringed, and Slade quickly shifted back into his human form. He peered down at Brooke, whose mind was clearly exploding.

“Brooke?” I said gently.

Her head turned to me, her mouth still slightly open. “I—” Her voice caught in her throat. She closed her mouth and looked down at her hands, twisted them in her lap. “But—how—I mean—can they be affected by us … ” she stuttered softly.

Understanding what she meant, I walked over and crouched down in front of her. “There's a thin veil between our worlds, Brooke,” I said gently. “What we do here affects them. It's like … ” I scanned my brain for a comparison. “You know when your jeans are really thin in the knees and a hole appears?”

Brooke's eyes narrowed at my lame comparison.

“Um, okay … uh … ” I scanned the desk next me, looking for some kind of teaching prop. I grabbed a blue pushpin. I jabbed Brooke in the leg quickly, through
her pants.

“OW!” she shrieked, and rubbed her thigh. “What the hell?”

“Sorry. It was to prove a point. You felt that, right? On your leg. Even though you're wearing pants.”

“Hell yeah, I felt that,” she shrieked. “Are you—”

I gripped her hand. “It's an analogy. The Créatúir can feel the pushpin. Especially where the pants are thin.” It sounded so great in my mind, but when I heard myself say “t
he pants are thin”
I nearly started laughing. I guess I shouldn't bank on a perfect score on the verbal skills portion of the SAT.

Despite the lame comparison, Brooke nodded. “When I was little, I could've sworn the boogeyman was real. I tried to tell my parents, but they never believed me. But I just knew that there was something living in my closet.”

“Oh yeah. Zenoph. He's pretty ugly, but he's really a nice guy. He feels really bad about having to scare little kids into staying in bed.” I smiled reassuringly. “Same with the Loch Ness monster. Thin veil there, too. Just likes to swim in Loch Ness, I guess.” I shrugged and grinned at Brooke. “So, believe me yet?”